Balance
by LexieAnge
Summary: She was pale, limp, with her eyes rolling back in her head. "Sarah!" "The queen most return to me." Jareth had only heard that voice once. It was the voice of the Labyrinth. "We need her magic." "I will not have Sarah harmed." He warned the voice. "You are my creation." "Balance must return."
1. Chapter 1

Balance

Chapter 1

Fifteen years, to the day, had passed. A glimpse of an owl. The feeling she was being watched. Never once had HE come to talk to her. Not once had HE allowed her to go there. This morning was the last straw. The dream she had showed the labyrinth calling to her with a thousand voices. Something was happening and if Sarah didn't do anything about it it would drive her crazy. How to get HIS attention?

HE was the king of desires yet HE had not come to fulfill her desires. Her crush had grown into an obsession for the man. For the last few months most nights she was in bed HIM. Yet it was not HIM. The fake him's name was Thomas. The mirror image of HIM. Kind and in her world. Then last week Thomas told her she was calling HIS name when they had sex. Thomas was leaving her for it. Though she had known she was calling HIS name she hoped that the relationship would last longer.

That was when the dreams started. HIS voice haunted her though he was never there. Images of her running that damn maze. The goblin screams of pain. Over and over. Finally she had enough. "JARETH!" Nothing. "I know you are watching me. I can feel you watching me." She said before work. She had planned this during her restless night. "At midnight watch me. I want to show you something."

Excited that she spoke to him, not to that clone, Jareth finished all his work in record timing. When he picked up the crystal again Sarah was just getting out of the bath. Jareth almost ran to his room and locked the door. "You are alone?" She laid on the bed. "Follow my hand watch everything tonight. This show is just for you." She was giving herself pleasure while he watched. His penis called to be touched as she moaned his name softly. When she came the first time he longed for her to wish him there. That was when Jareth heard her turn on a vibe.

"Sarah you are gorgeous. You shouldn't need such things." She smiled as if she could hear him. "Cum again for my my love." Then she came again. "I want so much to be with you right now."

"I wish the goblin king was here right now to make love with me." In a blink Jareth was there on her bed running his hand on her skin release a small moan.

"I am a slave to you every spoken wish." She smiled. The plan worked so far. "So gorgeous." Sarah put all the toys a side. "You have the day off tomorrow?" Sarah nodded. "Good."

"I wasn't sure you would come." She whispered. Looking at his handsome face made her heart falter. Screw the plan. As long as he was here. Goddess how she loved this man. Now he was touching her skin softly.

"How can I turn down a woman calling my name so?" She straddled him. "I would like to hear more."

"Thomas didn't like it when I called your name." Jareth cupped the face of his love. He wasn't really listening to her talk about the clone. Jareth just basked in her green orbs. "He left me for it."

"Good." She frowned at Jareth. "Sarah, I love you." Her heart stopped causing her chest to hurt. "No matter how many guys you have sex with. I offered you forever and you turned me down. You only have yourself to blame for our misery."

"I know." Sliding herself over him she moaned. He was so much bigger than she thought. "Oh goddess." Jareth smiled up at his angel a glow with him inside her. "Jareth." She gasped when he thrust up.

"Move for me Sarah." Every inch of him made her cry out. She was so tight around him he could of cum right there. No he had to hold out. This was a marathon not a sprint. She deserved that. He needed that. She needed a real man to love her.

"Kiss me." She demanded. He shot up thrusting into her as he did. Nothing was ever going to top this. Kissing her as she moaned, coming around him. He groaned. "Yes, Jareth, make noise. Show me your pleasure." As he pleasures her she called him name which in turn made him groan until she screamed his name. They came together.

"Is that what you were thinking when you asked me to watch you?"

"Better even. Jareth you are glorious as a king and a lover." He again kissed her hard then turned to his side."But I don't have to tell you that."

"It all has to do with my partner." She snugged into him. Is this a glimpse of a fantasy or of the future. "For your wish you are granted 12 hours of my time." She gave a playful pout. "I still have a kingdom to run."

"I know." She was soon asleep. Sarah was amazing. Now if she would only realize that she loved him. Jareth was already lost her in more ways than one. Maybe he had gained some ground again.

Morning came too brightly for him. The underground was always cloudy so there was no sun to wake him. Jareth knew the sun was a sign that last night was no dream. He had made love to the woman he loved. Sarah, his breath taking hero, had seemed to enjoy it as much as the king himself.

"Morning Majesty." Her voice came from the door. Sarah was wearing her favorite jammies. Pink with a crown that said queen on it. "I have prepared you breakfast. Probably not as fancy as you are used to but I am just a simple girl." She placed a tray over his legs. Blushing at his naked enlarging penis. Just a reminder her plan had worked. Maybe too well.

"Where is the woman from last night? I seem to have woken to find the blushing girl from so long ago." He teased at her blush. Having seen that she hadn't lost her innocents yet witnessing her sexy side made him want her more. This time would be different. He only had five hours to prove to her what Jareth knew. She was his.

"Just eat and she will come back after the shower." She vanished into the bathroom. Debating on following he stared at her fruit bowl breakfast. A strawberry lay on top cut into a rose shape. This was it. This was the proof he needed to move her to his castle. A single strawberry rose. He hear the water running Jareth followed. "Jareth!" She cried.

"I know you like shower sex the best so I am showing you how it an be with me." He fell to his knees raising a single leg over his shoulder. Kissing it to her thigh. Sarah arched herself to him. His tongue found her sweet spot. Oh how he loved his name on her lips. She kept calling it until she came hard. That was all he could handle. Standing he picked her up. "God damn me for life, I will never get my fill of you like this." He thrust into her for whimpers. She hid her face into his shoulder when he wasn't kissing her. This was not the brazen woman he had last night but she still moaned his name which was all he could ask for.

Jareth took her to the kitchen table. To find it the perfect height to lay her on, That was when the wanton woman returned. His hands dug into her hips as he watched her wet her fingers to rub circles on her clit. She was screaming his name again. Today he would be rougher. Find out how much she could take. He turned her over bending over the table. She came twice before he realized he wanted to see her face as she came around him. So he took his princess to the bed.

Sarah pushed him down dropping to her knees. Jareth knew what she was doing. She could make a man come just from taking him in her mouth. Every man she had ever been with. "When I say stop please do. I want to cum with you around me." Sarah nodded. Her mouth took the tip in. Jareth couldn't handle it. He had to be dreaming. When had Sarah become such a proficient lover? "Stop." So she did.

"The frightening Goblin King done in by the mouth of a girl." Sarah teased back. "Where is your famous self control?" Jareth wanted to see her on top again. Sarah didn't seem to object.

"Gone the second I saw you naked for me." She frowned. "You underestimate my need for you." She was starting to realize it though as she came hardest. "I love you Sarah Williams more than you could ever know. Have since I saw you in the park that night." She rode him faster to match his thrusting. "Even more now that you have allowed me to pleasure you." He came with her this time.

"I know." Jareth wished she would stop saying that. It was not what he wanted to hear. "This is your birthday gift from me but I have to say that I didn't expect to enjoy it this much." She said falling on his chest exhausted.

"Did you?" She smiled.

"More than any other man." He smiled. Now he was right where she wanted him. "I wish that you would take me back to your castle beyond the goblin city." Damn her. It was too soon. He needed a goblin week to prepare, inform the council, have the maid dust her rooms. He had won this waiting game yet now he would have to make her wait.

"No." Wait what? She sat up. "I love you and for that reason I have to leave you here. It is safer above ground."

"Jareth-" He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. The pain from the magic hit his heart. He rejected a wish.

"I said no, Sarah. This I will not be swayed from." He wouldn't even look at her. That hurt Sarah the most.

"The labyrinth is sick." She said in a small voice. Honesty was all she had left.

"How did you know that?" She hugged her knees to her chest. "Sarah-"

"I hear the goblins screaming. The labyrinth is calling to me. I watch it devour you." His dream. Save it was Sarah the labyrinth devoured. "I took a week off work so that I could travel there and help you fix it." Pressure started building behind her eyes. "When I couldn't get a hold of Hoggle I came with this. Two birds with one stone. I would stop the ache and you would take me to the castle."

It was all a ploy to get him alone. To get him to take her back. Jareth did know if that hurt more or if denying her did. "The dwarf is dealing with my subjects as I look for the cause." He turned back to her. She was pale, limp, with her eyes rolling back in her head. "Sarah!"

_"The queen most return to us."_ Jareth had only heard that voice once. It was the voice of the Labyrinth. _"We need her magic." _

"I will not have Sarah harmed." He warned the voice.

_"We will not harm the queen."_ It said through her.

"You are my creation."

_"She took from us. Balance must return."_ Then she fell back onto the bed. Jareth made sure that she wouldn't hit her head on the frame. What could Sarah have taken from the underground?

"What was I saying?" She said in a whisper. Jareth's head fell onto her belly. "Goddess Jareth." She ran her thumb along his cheek bone. "Why are you crying?" She held him to her. "If you don't want me to go I won't. Just please don't cry."

"I love you, Sarah."

"I know you do. That is why I will obey you this time." Sarah's smile gave the goblin king hope however she still shaking body made him fear for her safety. "I may have defeated your labyrinth but I never wanted to see you harmed."

"I know, love." He kissed her hands. "Let me go get you a room set up." Her eyes lit up. "This is not a vacation. I will give you free run of my lands but I request that you if you go in the maze that I go with you."

"Scouts honor." Jareth knew that second that he was going to regret this arrangement. "What changed your mind?" She saw the domination king become docile. "Jareth?"

If it was any other person he would feed them to the labyrinth not second thought. "I don't know what is going on but you are linked to the labyrinth. It just talked to me through you." She made no move. Her eyes didn't even change. "It is demanding you balance the magic."

"If that is all it wanted I would have done it years ago." Jareth sat up. "Watch the candle." He watched the dresser. A square pillar glided to her hands before it lit. "The fire in my first building was me awakening to the powers that the labyrinth gave me. I think it is what makes it so I can sense you or even hear you through the crystals."

"I feel you should have lead with that."

"But then I wouldn't have had you for twelve hours. Alone." Her eyes twinkled. He groaned. His Sarah still filled with surprises. "I need to pack so you should go." He took her face in his hands. "I will be fine. I defeated it last time without powers." Jareth held her to him. "Jareth?" Then he was gone. "Well I am going to hate the teleporting." Sarah fell over. "I love him. You can't have him either."

_"We shall see. Balance must be restored." _Balance?

"Take away the only thing holding me in this world and I will tear you down brick by brick." She said in a growl.

_"One will not survive."_ Ass of a maze.


	2. Chapter 2

Balance

Chapter 2

_"We shall see. Balance must be restored." _Balance?

"Take away the only thing holding me in this world and I will tear you down brick by brick." She said in a growl.

_"One will not survive."_ Ass of a maze.

The second Sarah made foot fall she knew two things. One, Jareth knew she was there without his help. That she was alone and unprotected. Two, that the labyrinth demanded her time. Not willing to wait Sarah felt herself fall into darkness. Jareth would come find her. He always did when she needed him.

_"Hero, you must gain more power." _Sarah heard in the darkness.

"I thought I was here to give it back?" Heat surrounded her for a second before she started to freeze. A shiver when up her spine as the screams started.

_"A war brews in the west." _War? Was that what she was hearing?

"Why didn't you lead with this above ground?" She snapped.

_ "We have just felt the first step of malice."_

"What can I do?" Sarah sighed holding the bridge. The labyrinth was just as temperamental as it's master. "There has to be something I can do to stop it." The Wiseman appeared in a spot light to her left. The crazy old goblin with the talking hat. Sarah remembered him as a sweet old man but was he really the soul of the labyrinth?

_"Gather the powers of the land." _What get more power?_ "The dragons are beginning to wake. The Leviathans gather at the shores. You need to find the wolves. The Soul Cannibals follow the king. These are the elemental creatures. Gain their trust and gain their powers."_ Sarah realized that the voice came from the wiseman's hat. _"You must gain the other half of the king's lost power to help us. Only then can you return home."_

"Who said that I wanted to return to the above world?" To leave Jareth? Could she do that again?

_"If you fail you will be dead. Never to see the saved child." _Saved child? Toby? That was true she did just abandoned him above ground. Shit why was she not thinking? Sarah was being selfish again.

"Sarah!" The kings voice called. She had hurry. Jareth's voice was closer to her. There was still so much to ask.

"Am I the only one that has finished the labyrinth?"

_"One other but she never left. She never broke us."_ The hat sounded mournful. _"Now you have to fix us, Sarah, Queen of the Land."_

"What do I need to know?"

_"Everything you have learned or will learn."_ Sarah frowned at the bird. An alter with a pool at the center of what she know was in the labyrinth appeared before her._ "War will be here in a month. The two halves must be balanced to save the land."_ Before Sarah could ask anything of the wiseman was gone.

"How will I know-"

_"Sarah feel. Just believe."_ It said. Sarah blinked to find herself in the arms of the king. She was laying in his lap. His head on hers.

"Of all the irresponsible things you-" Jareth whispered.

"Call you allies. Call your armies." Sarah blurted sitting up. It made her dizzy to move that fast but she had no time. "We have to defend the labyrinth." He gave her a look of confusion. Her side burst in fire. "There is an army burning a western forest."

"How do you know that?" Sarah lifted her shirt to show the burnt flesh.

"Queen of the Land." Having Sarah say it out loud made it real. Of course Jareth thought that it could be true. The last queen was a runner. The land chose her for him. The only concession he had was that he loved her. Not like the meaningless marriage the last queen and king had. "You are the people." She only knew her own title? "You only have half the power you need to defeat the army." As if her skin were tissue it burnt fast. Jareth healing wasn't helping. She needed something else to help her.

"I have all the power I need to de-" Jareth the great and powerful Goblin King, Master of the Labyrinth, could do nothing for the woman he loved. As she doubled over in pain he cursed his very heart for letting her come here the first time. She would have lived a normal life. "What can I do for you?"

"Take me to the Labyrinth." Jareth shook his head. "Please, it can heal me. It is the center of my power." Sarah brought up a picture of the alter and pool. "This can help me."

"How do you know that?"

"I believe." When she opened her eyes she was in a pool with pillars all round them. A column of fire blew on one of them. Another bore a single feather floating in mid-air. "I have my work cut out for me."

"Goddess Sarah, what am I going to do with you?" Jareth knelt at the edge of the pillars. She tried to smile at him but the power of the water filled her. She shattered like one of his crystals. "Sarah!"

She didn't see the pool, her gorgeous king or the walls of the labyrinth. No, she saw the invading army. A village burned around her. Goblins and other Fae laying dead near their burnt out homes. Some with weapons. Others with children. Though she couldn't feel the flames she knew that these men were burning it. None of them, she could see, were small men. Covered in black and steel armor, on midnight stallions with red eyes. The one that lead them looked right at her. He seemed to walk right up to her.

"He can't see me." She said to herself standing defiant. All she could compare this man to was The Rock. He was built the same way. Dark eyes, hair, pale skin with ears of an elf. Could elves even get this large? She asked herself.

"I can see you, Queen of the Land. I am coming for your king." Sarah stood fast, though her heart beat faster. How could he see her? She was at the center of the labyrinth at the center of the country.

"Who are you?" He just smiled. "What do you think you are doing by hurting my lands?"

"I am Keir, The Black Axeman and I am creating a new world." Sarah glared at him. There was no way she was going to forgive this man. "Jareth doesn't deserve the land," Keir leaned into her. "Or you." Sarah frowned at the man. She could feel his breath on her neck. "He treated you worse than a slave. Which I can not understand. You are more gorgeous than the stories."

"Jareth has-" The warlord placed a single finger on her lips.

"Once I defeat the King of the Fae, I will make you my queen." The warlord whispered. The twinkle in his black eyes spoke of lust and pain. "Go back and tell him I am coming for him, sweet thing. I hope that you will be ready for me. I really do like a challenge." Sarah watched him thrust his sword into the earth at his feet.

Sarah gasped. Water shimmered all around her. Jareth beat against an invisible wall calling her name. Pulling herself from the water Sarah coughed up water. She looked over to Jareth. Her heart broke to see her arrogant king turned to a weeping mess. In that very second that Sarah knew she was never leaving the land, the people or the man screaming her name. He was everything she wanted. No way was Keir going to win. Jareth fell to the ground still beating against the wall. She crawled over to him, holding her healing abdomen. As soon as her hand passed the barrier he pulled her into his arms. "Goddess what happened, Sarah?"

"I know who is attacking. I know what he wants." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "The village was gone when I got to them." She cried. "Keir's army killed everyone in the village then burnt it to the ground." Jareth held her tighter. "He wants to kill you. He wants me to be his queen. Probably so that the land doesn't reject him."

"That bastard will never lay a finger on you, Sarah. Not while I breath."

"He doesn't have to. All he has to is injury the land to cause me pain." His heart stopped. Now the enemy knew she was Queen too. Or did Keir know before he started the attack? Why was Keir really doing this?

Could Jareth defeat Keir without Sarah? His labyrinth didn't think so. Sarah was willing to help. Eager in fact. What had Keir said to her? In school Keir was no match for Jareth. Something had changed if Keir thought that he could take the Goblin Kingdom. Jareth thought circles as he watched his Sarah sleep in his bed. A war was not a wedding gift he would have gotten her but it was what she now had to deal with. Two of the elements were on their side already. Three more. Did she know what needed to be done? Was Jareth going to be able to help her? What was the Labyrinth playing at? Sarah is only a mortal.

"Jareth!" She stood straight up in bed. When she saw him on the balcony she signed. "I have to go." He was blinking as she rounded the bed. "They are calling to me."

Jareth gripped her arm. Sarah's blood shot green eyes followed his hand to his mismatched eyes. "Let me go with you." He whispered.

"I can't, love." She turned away from him. Her hair veiling her face. Jareth knew that she was crying. "You have to gather the people. We are going to need everything we can." Sarah was leaving him again. Part of him still hurt from years ago but this time he knew she had to come back. Not if he had anything to say about it.

"Then I am sending a guard with you." She went limp, nodding. "He will keep you from harm since I can not. I trust him with my soul just as I trust you, my love." She turned back to him. Tiny crystals rolling down her face. "We will get through this Sarah. I will defeat Keir."

"I know. I believe that in my heart but my brain says that I have to give you the best shot at it. I can't just be that girl I was when I was here last. Life is unfair. Nothing is as it seems. That is why the world is falling all around us."

"He will now touch me."

She stood straight. "No he won't." This was the defiant woman that left Jareth in his ruined castle. "If I am to be the Queen the Land I need to step up my game." She smiled. "I will not let Keir get to you. With all the magic I am going to gather I will rip him from limb to limb for what he had done."

"Sarah-"

"I love you, Jareth. I always have." His breath stopped in this throat. "You made me lust after you as a teen. The more time I spent in this castle, afterward, seeing the real you, I knew I would never be free of you. Now that I have you no bat ass crazy fucker is going to take you from me." That was the same thing Jareth kept coming back to. Keir would never have her.

"I love you, Sarah." She smiled. "I hate that you waited this long to tell me though. I hate myself for not realizing that you have been here before."

"In truth it was only twice that I have come to the castle. Most times I run the labyrinth. I feel safe there. Guess I know why now. Hoggle and I do lunch most times. Didymus and I talk about history. When I came here the first time," Her voice cracked. "You were such a mess. I didn't know why until I started to date Thomas. I was lonely even in his arms. You never touched me yet I knew that I couldn't live in my world with out you. I became the mess that I saw you as."

"You left me." Her warm hand touched his face. Gods why was she perfect?

"I know. I was only fifteen. I didn't know what I was feeling. I am thirty now. I know what I feel. I know what I must do." Soft wind swept grass fields turned to hard fire infused emerald eyes. "I am going to gather the power that I need to kick his ass. I will be your champion."

"That is my girl." Jareth smile. He most certainly loved her like this. "Give me a day, my love and I will have everything ready for you on your quest." She nodded. He held his hand out to her. When she took it magic surged. They were finally on the same wave length. "Lets go find your guard."


	3. Chapter 3

Balance

Chapter 3

"I will be your champion."

"That is my girl." Jareth smile. He most certainly loved her like this. "Give me a day, my love and I will have everything ready for you, for your quest." She nodded. He held his hand out to her. When she took it magic surged. They were finally on the same wave length. "Lets go find your guard."

Sarah knew that Jareth was taking her to the massive library as soon as they passed a statue of a woman holding the sun in one hand and the moon in the other. That could mean that she was going to _officially_ meet Alistair Hawke. Won't that just send Jareth in a fury. She held in the giggle that bubbled in her heart.

"He is what you would call talented." Sarah simply nodded. Jareth kept giving her side glances as she pretended to be interested in the path they took. The massive doors seemed even more so. Gold trimmed green painted wood door opened to shelves and shelves of books reaching from the floor to the cathedral heights she hated so much. "Is he here?" A goblin pointed down the long hall.

"Alistair-" Jareth started but Sarah left his arm. The scruffy looking man spun on the spot dropping his glasses to smile.

"Sarah!" Alistair took both her hands to kiss them. "What are you doing here? And the King?"

"I think that Jareth has a favor to ask you, my friend." Jareth, as predicted, pulled Sarah back to him. She just smiled widely as Alistair laughed. "You owe me twenty gold."

"So you finally broke down and told him, Sarah. That hardly seems fair." The fighter mage grasped the free hand of his oldest friend. "Congratulations, Jareth. I hope that I can be best man when you make an honest woman out of our, Sarah." Our Sarah? That set Jareth hair on end.

"How do you know each other? Another conquest?" They both laughed out loud much to the chagrin of their king. Sarah pulled away from him so that she stood next to Alistair. They were a lovely couple. Both dark hair and bright eyes. Sarah's mental strength would match with Alistair's magical and physical. "Tell me you didn't, with him."

"Heavens no." They said in unison. "I knew he was going to be jealous." They laughed.

"She is like a sister to me. That was even before I knew whom she was. Sarah helped me get this finished." He waved his arms at the completed library. "One day she just walked in. I had no idea who she was so I put her to work. Goddess of Knowledge, she was a hard worker. With her, on the second day, came half the town. What had taken me five years to start took us two weeks to finish. Since then we just sit and talk." That was the help he got. Jareth's eyes opened wide. Jareth had not wanted her to help. Hell he didn't know if she was ever coming back.

"About you mostly." Jareth glared at her. "I told you that I was learning about you when I came here. Alistair was the one that told me everything that I know." The king groaned.

"Did you tell her about that?" Jareth watched Alistair gaze at Sarah like there was an in joke here. "You did!"

"I told her everything. Including that." Sarah watched the king blush. Jareth the Goblin king was embarrassed.

"I love that you decided to build this addition, in case there was a chance that I came back. Even more so that I helped build it. I saw how much love you put into picking the people, books and decoration. I spend a lot of time here."

"Fine." Jareth waved over one of the goblins, annoyed with this revelation. Sarah moved to hug Alistair while Jareth called for something to eat. "I have no doubt that you know why I brought her here then."

"Not a clue. It is day of your anniversary. I would have thought that she would have gone to see you but tomorrow I was expecting her." Alistair said pulling out a chair for her. Damn him.

"You were going to visit?" Sarah sat in the chair. Jareth moved to her right side so that Alistair wouldn't take his spot at her side.

"Yeah, sure." She said matter of factly. "Do you think that I can turn down a chance to spend time in my library?" She smiled at his rolling eyes. "I come here every other weekend. Every five years I come to visit you." Alistair waved her to continue. She took a deep breath turning to Jareth. "The first time I had just lost my father. Toby left with my step-mother. I needed something to take my mind off everything. The Escher room was still destroyed. There were no goblins in the throne room. So I went in search of you. I wanted, at the time, for you to tell me that I was a silly girl and that I should grow up."

"She found me first. Once we were done she told me who she was, so I took her to your room. You were in one of your moods." The king hid his face in his right hand. She saw him like that. It was the worst time in his life.

"I am sorry that you had to see that."

"I am not. That was the moment that I knew that you weren't lying to me when you asked me to stay." His hand wrapped around hers. "I saw the destruction. The room and yours. When you saw me you thought that Alistair conjured me. Some sort of therapy."

The king frowned remembering that day. Alistair came in with a young woman that was the spitting image of _His Sarah, _older and more beautiful but she wouldn't have come back. Jareth was sure of that. She just looked at him with green eyes filled with sadness. He had berated Alistair for making something so imperfect. _His Sarah's_ eyes were never sad. They were always filled with fire. _His Sarah_ was always on fire. Fire of hatred for him. Defiance for what he wanted. As well as self confidence. It was what he loved about her. _His Sarah_ would not come to him on the edge of tears for the enemy she defeated. The woman he loved was gone.

"What happened the second time?" Jareth asked quietly, hating himself for that day.

"It was the wedding of Talon Blackthorn and Miriam Hurst. I brought her with me." I thought that she needed the time away from the castle." It was a masquerade wedding to hide the fact that was not who was getting married than night. Jareth remembered there was a fuss but that was all. Ale will do that to you.

"I heard some women talking about how you lost to me. That meant somehow that you were unworthy as a partner. They made a bet that they could come over to you and you would dance then bed one of them. You were after all desperate after what I did to you." Sarah gazed at her hand. "They got you so drunk that you would have believed that they were the Goddesses of Beauty and Nature. You were taking them away and I just snapped." Jareth blinked. Sarah lost her temper at strangers who were insulting him.

"Best wedding I have ever been to." Alistair gave her a small smile. "The two of us spent the night changing the ale with juice. I got to practice my stealth though you were not in a very perceptive mood. Even when Sarah stared you down for the last glass. I wish that you could remember the cat fight that ended the night."

"Alistair Hawke!"

"What you were protecting Jareth and he didn't even know it."

"What happened?" Jareth was intrigued now. His feisty Sarah started a fight with Fae to defend his honor. Shame washed over him. If that wasn't an admission of love he didn't know what was. He was just to blind to see it, or her.

"I punched one in the face when she tried to pull me away from you. Broke her glass mask. Lady Cassia was not impressed but I was the one bleeding." Sarah pointed out the scar that ran up the back of her left hand. "Lady Samia tried to hit me back. To be preemptive or to defend her sister, I don't know. I just know that Alistair stopped her. Cassia swung at me and I broke her pretty little nose." Jareth kissed the mark, letting his amusement show. "Names were called mostly to me until I lifted my mask. The room shut down. We brought you home. We had just put you to bed when Alistair went to get something to sober you up."

"My Sarah wouldn't have fought for me." Sarah tried to do the best imitation of Jareth she could. "I told you that I would. That no one should treat you as less than what you are. You are the Goblin King."

"You were the one? It stuck in my mind." That was what snapped him out of his depressed haze.

"You pushed me away demanding to know who I was. I told you I was me. I even kissed you." He frowned. "You told me a second time that I was lying and that I should leave. You rejected me twice because of some inner vision of my personality. I had been fifteen. Then I was twenty five but it hurt to hear you talk about me as some self cruel bitch after I just saved you from the real bitches."

"I wasn't gone more than ten minutes when I saw Sarah run through your mirror." Alistair stopped smiling."Do you remember what you told me Jareth?"

"No. I was really drunk."

"That you wouldn't have slept with any of them. You were waiting for your Sarah. I knew that you were face to face with her because her mask was on your bed. Then you said that, you would die before you made love to any other woman. I told you she was right there and you said you knew, but it was all a dream. She left you to be forever alone." Sarah had not heard that before. "It took Sarah six human months to call me."

"Shortly after that I started to see Thomas. I knew that night that we would never be free of each other. Though I knew that you would never see me as I was. I could never love any other man, as I did you. I had to go above ground and start living my life for me."

"Oh my darling I am sorry." Jareth pulled her to him, if only to kiss away her tears. He decidedly hated to see her cry.

"Last week Thomas left me. Which is what lead me here." Her screaming his name with a smile on her face. Then the gorgeous birthday gift.

"I am sorry that Jareth caused you pain, Sarah, but I am happy with the way that ended up. Are you still having the dreams?" Alistair asked. "Wait. How did you get Jareth's attention?"

"His stalker tendencies." Alistair laughed. "And yes the dreams were getting worse until I slept with Jareth." Suddenly Jareth was on the side lines again. "Then I guess that the labyrinth spoke to Jareth through me."

"So it did pick you."

"Seems so. There is more though." Alistair finally sat down. "I am Queen of the Land, sure. However there is an army that just attacked a village on the border. The Labyrinth wants me to fight it." Alistair frowned. "I don't know if I can. As the lands burned I burned too. The warlord slabbed the earth and I got a gash in my belly. The only think that could heal me was the heart of the labyrinth."

"Which I can't enter." Jareth piped in.

"That is the Queen's link. The King's is the thrown. Sarah will never get to sit in your throne." Alistair stood to get a book from the cart two rows down. "Did it look like this?" The pastel art was exactly what they had seen. "What happened when Sarah got there?"

"We teleported using her magic. I was locked on the outside of the shield as she walked into the pool. It didn't go past her ankles so I wasn't worried. Then Sarah shattered into dust. My crystal dust." Alistair frowned, again, thinking. "She was gone for what seemed like seconds. I watched her break the surface of the water as if she had been pulled under. She crawled over to me bleeding. Once I had her in my arms again she was healed."

"Really? Where did you go Sarah?"

"To the village the labyrinth told me about. I met and spoke to Keir. I think that his impaling the ground was to send me back here."

"Keir?" Jareth nodded. "When did he get back?"

"Never mind about that. He is here now. We need to get the army ready. I need you to go with Sarah?"

"Where we going?"

"To gather the lost magics. I don't know what I am looking for. The labyrinth told me something about dragons, wolves, leviathans and soul cannibals."

"Soul Cannibals are Jareth's owls. That will be easy to do. But you are missing one." She frowned. "Fire, earth, air, water and spirit. That are what the pillars mean. Dragons are wind, Wolves for earth. Water the leviathans. Spirit are the owls. You are missing fire."

"Why are dragons not fire?" Sarah asked innocently.

"Loved one, what have I told you about this place?" Jareth teased. Sarah just let her head fall to the table. The thud got the attention of goblins around them.

"Why would dragons breath fire? That would be too easy." She groaned rubbing her forehead. "What other fire-" She snapped up straight, knocking the chair over. "Are there Phoenix in this realm?" A small goblin rushed over to the chair, putting it right.

"Yeah. Their nest is in the south." Alistair seemed to be on the page she was.

"Ha! I figured it out without the damn labyrinth or you, Jareth." He pointed at him victoriously. Jareth covered his mouth to keep from laughing at her. Goddess she was so cute. "I need a map." Sarah rambled on about how she figured it out while their food arrived with the map. He couldn't have loved the woman any more than he did right then making plans to save his kingdom, with his best-friend. She was his other half in every way. "Jareth?"

"What is it my love?" She smiled at the endearment. "I was day dreaming."

"You said that we will leave tomorrow." He nodded. Seeing that they were using fruit pieces to double as the creatures that she would be questing for, Jareth waved his hand to turn them into small figurines. Kiwi for dragons. Strawberry for the fire birds. A banana for the sea serpents. What surprised him was the peach for the wolves. He had almost forgot about that. "Thank you." She turned bending down to kiss him. "Always thinking of my needs."

"More like not wanting to ruin the map." She gave a playful glare. Jareth decided that it was time to get involved with the conversation before they decided something without him. Something he wasn't going to like. Not seeing anything that was doubling as Keir, Jareth conjured a crystal. Sarah watched as it turned into a thinner version of the man she met.

"He is more buff now." Sarah took it willing to match the man. "What?" To their surprise it changed in her hand. "There." She sounded pleased. "That is better."

"This is the man you saw?" Alistair asked. Taking the figure from her to show Jareth.

"More or less. I only talked to him for five minutes."

"How close was he to you?" Sarah didn't know if Jareth was being protective or just worried.

"He was breathing on my neck." Sarah felt the tension in Jareth rise. "I thought that I was a ghost or something since I couldn't feel the fire, but I felt his breath." She absently rubbed the spot. "He whispered in my ear." Sarah found herself in the king's lap. "Jareth?"

"He held you that close. Keir could have killed you." She didn't know the danger she was in.

"What is going on?"

"He has merged with a fury." Alistair showed the mark on the sleeve of his armor. "This is the symbol to the Death Riders." Jareth growled. "I think that we are going to have to leave sooner rather than later." Jareth looked from Alistair to Sarah. Jareth groaned into her shoulder.

"I will see to it." Lightning dimmed the lights. That was Keir's personal calling card. They were safe in his palace right? There was no way that Keir would be able to get into the palace Jareth built. Yes, that was right. Five minutes wouldn't kill them. "Keep her here. Don't let her out of your sight."

"Aye Sire." Sarah blinked stunned at how fast it was happening. Whatever was happening. "If she asks-"

"Don't tell her." Jareth called back to Alistair. It wasn't something that Sarah needed to know. Not yet. With her family issues she would want to make peace.

"Screw that." Sarah never heard Alistair swear. "Once we are on the road I will tell you who Keir is. I think that you are going to need to know."

"Why not now?" Sarah stood again smoothing out her dress.

"Because my brother would be very angry." Keir smiled at them from the way that Jareth had gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Balance

Chapter 4

"Don't tell her." He called back to Alistair. Jareth called back to Alistair. It wasn't something that Sarah needed to know. Not yet. With her family issues she would want to make peace.

"Screw that." Sarah never heard Alistair swear. "Once we are on the road I will tell you who Keir is. I think that you are going to need to know." Lightning again knocked out the lights on all the walls. Just candles on the tables were still let. Goblins scattered, frantic trying to light them again.

"Now what?" She sighed. "Why doesn't Jareth want me to know." Sarah stood again smoothing out her dress.

"Because my little brother would be very angry." Keir smiled at them from the way that Jareth had gone. Black armor with the gold seal on it. A woman's face made of fire. Sarah had not really seen it before but now looking at it she felt the concern of her loved ones. There was something else there. A disappointment. A broken heart in the back of her mind. A human woman's face with crying blue eyes. Power surged in her. The Queen of the land powers filled her very being. It had to do with this brown eyes man.

Alistair went on the defensive. Sarah had no idea what she was going to do. That was when she saw Alistair thrown it a book shelf against the wall. Lightning flashed again. Sarah backed to the table. From what she knew of Furies they were not a force to be fought with. Women hell bent on revenge. She would just have to hold out until Jareth got back. She knew that he couldn't control it as well as she should for this battle. Jareth would be her hero. He would come to save her. "Jareth."

"He is not coming back my sweet." Keir said leaning over her. "I have sealed the door." A hand touched the dragon piece while Keir reached around her to get the one of himself. "You really captured my likeness well." She smile. Confidence would be her saving grace. "Like me that much, do you?" He pulled back. It was enough that Sarah could use her wind gifts. In a blink Keir was hit with a blue ball of ice. It knocked Keir in the far wall. Sarah smiled at the team work. This could work.

"Keep your hands off her." Alistair stood staff in hand. "You don't belong here, Keir. You never have. Jareth is King. Sarah is his Queen not yours. We will have to be both dead before you touch her again." Keir just laughed. "Sarah?"

"No problem." She stood holding a crystal sword with the hilt of a dragon.

"Did you cast it?" He eyed the sword. Could her magic be that powerful already?

"Yup." Alistair smirked. Jareth would be breaking the spell right now. He never could resist the summons of this girl. "Do you think I can kill him now?"

"Why not try?" Sarah had to smile. Alistair though she would fight at his side. Neither of them had any idea where the magic, or the sword skills came from, but she was in sync with every attacked Alistair sent. However Keir was blocking every single one of them as if it was nothing. That frustrated Sarah the most. Her only problem was that she didn't have the stamina. What kind of warrior was she if she couldn't keep up? She was thrown back into Alistair. That was it she couldn't take any more. Keir glared at her, walking calmly closer to her.

"Sarah?" Never had she loved the sound of her name more. She released her breath. Jareth was finally here.

"Jareth." Keir smiled darkly. Sarah collapsed the rest of the way. "Full faith that you would save her." Sarah saw the tear form then dry. "She will never be your queen." Keir growled. Sarah felt the woman reach out to him. With this new strength she attempted to stand. "Sarah will never replace your mother in my palace."

"This is MY palace. You are not welcome here." Jareth said in a stern voice. He saw Sarah forcing herself to walk to Keir. Alistair tried to stop her. "You have hurt, my queen as well." Keir just laughed. "For that alone I should rip you to pieces."

"Your little human isn't bad either. She cut my armor." Sarah could see the tear in his arm. Right where the fury band was. It wasn't her doing. The blonde woman in her mind hated that mark with a passion. Sarah knew that this woman owed the blade that held the hint of drying red.

"Woo ho." She cheer for herself. "She is happy about that."

"Get ready." Alistair said placing a hand on her back. She felt the warmth though the fabric. Everything on her burned.

"Who was she Keir?"

"What are you talking about?" Keir glared at her.

"A blonde woman. Blue eyes always crying. She hates that mark." Sarah placed a hand over her heart. "Mortal. Reaching for you." Anger filled her that moment. "This was not that man she wanted you to become." Sarah took another step. "Who was she to you Keir? Explain to me why she is asking me to beat the shit out of you."

"Ask Jareth." Keir turned to the man them. "He will know." The anger in Keir's voice peaked the woman in Sarah's magic. The blonde needed to be a Jareth side. If not for herself for Sarah. "I think that I will make Sarah the mother of my heir. Would you like that Jareth? Do you think that our father would like that?" Sarah could see the aura around Jareth change. "I will have to beat you out of her first though. I don't want any child I have be tainted by you, little brother." It took everything he was to keep from attacking despite the childish remarks. That was when he felt her hand in his.

"Come hell or high water you are never getting Jareth's kingdom." Sarah groaned. Keir was blind if he couldn't see the magic rising between them. Alistair had only seen it one other time. Keir and Elizabeth. But that was three hundred years ago. Alistair was only five years old. The Queen and heir stood up to the King. A year later Jareth was born.

"Wow what a couple." The woman screamed his name. Why wasn't he hearing her? Sarah was sure that Jareth heard her.

"You should know what this is." Alistair said behind them."They are bound."

Sarah watched as Keir suddenly turned sad. This was her moment. Leaping at the man she sliced her sword along his hip. Keir cried out in pain. Sarah spun around bringing her blade over his spin. The single drop fully form distracted both women. For that she was thrown back at the king. Keir ran to the far wall, phasing through it. When she was sure that the menace was gone Sarah fell apart. Both woman fell to their knees. The emotions finally overwhelming them.

"Sarah?!" Jareth saw that she was not alone. One eye Jareth's blue and the other Sarah's emerald green. Who resided in his Sarah?

"Who is your hero?" She said weakly. She was not hurt if she could make horrible jokes. "He knew her. She hates the new Keir." Her eyes shifted back.

"What is going on, Jareth?" The king picked Sarah up in a princess hold. "I have never heard of the Queen holding a second persona."

"Whoever it was kept my Sarah alive." Sarah passed out in his arms. "What do you mean "bound"? I have never heard it before." Sarah lay motionless save shallow breathing. Jareth pulled the sword from her hand, as soon as it left her hand it shrank down to the dragon marker.

"Lets take her to bed and I will explain." Jareth carried his Sarah to her room. Alistair lead the way. How sad was it that the king didn't even know that Sarah had her own room in his castle? Did his despair for her blind him from seeing her in plain view? Laying her down Jareth sat next to her. Alistair pulled up a chair. "The bonding is something very rare. Or so I thought."

"Is it magic?" Jareth asked.

"Something more than magic." Alistair sighed. How to explain something that he had never experienced to people that were living it? "Something deeper than that."

"Soul mates." They both looked down at her. "That was the impression that I was getting from that woman." Sarah tried to sit up. Jareth tried to help her but she just fell against him.

"Keir had it once. A long time ago." Alistair whispered.

"With Jareth's mother." Sarah said testing the muscles in her hand. "Okay. I am done not knowing. Who was your mother? She was the last runner?"

"My mother did gain what you have. She lived four hundred years ago. She ran the labyrinth for her little sister. I am told that she was consider a witch, when she returned with tales of the Underground, so she sentenced at the stake." Sarah gasped. "My father, the last king, pulled her before she was died and healed her. He took her as his wife. She died shortly after giving me life. Not even a year. I don't remember her." Sarah held him closer to her. The woman's regret filled Sarah.

"That would explain why she came to full power when he threatened you."

Alistair told them about what he had witnessed as a child. Then he told them their powers felt the same. The fact that Jareth was born a year later. Part of him wanted to feel what they felt but his work would take him all over the map. That did not give him much time to see out any sort of love.

"What do we do?" Jareth asked.

"As planned." Sarah said. "Gather your troops. I will gain the power of the land. Once that is done I will return. We will turn back his army. I have a distinct impression that this woman will keep me safe." Sarah gazed up at her king. "What was her name?"  
"Elizabeth Anne Morton."

"Lizzy." Saying her name seemed to summon the woman. Magic pooled around her. Jareth needed to stay out of it. Sarah gasped softly. The labyrinth pulled her into her mind. The woman Stood in the same spot light as Wiseman. "Lizzy?"

"Sarah I am so glad that we can meet." Jareth had her smile. As well as her heart broken eyes. I see that you have finally accepted the powers."

"How long ago did Jareth give them to me?"

"He didn't. The Labyrinth and I did." Lizzy couldn't have been too much older than Sarah herself, though her fashion seemed puritan. "My fool of a love struck son only gave you the power to call on him. He was very much a child still in Fae terms when the Labyrinth sent you the book. He may look like a grown up but my son was a child until you wished away that gorgeous boy Tobias."

"Were you that helping me?"

"No that was all you." She laughed. "Hoggle hated me with a passion. It was Keir that helped me through."

"Really? He knew that you were soul mates, so I shouldn't be surprised. That is not what happened to me." She smiled knowingly. "I made so many friends here. I found my destiny and fought so hard against it." Sarah held herself against the shiver that fell down her spine. "I am sorry that I brought so much pain to your son."

"Sarah, my dear child he needed it." Sarah frowned. "Jareth like I said was a child when you came. You broke his toy. You showed him that not everyone in the two realms were going to hand him his ever desire. I thank you for that. My husband and his father doted on him until the day I died."

"There is something there that sounds like a soap opera."

"Keir feels broken. He was lied to. If only by himself." Lizzy gazed down at two rings. One with a diamond and the other a silver band, one stone, smoky quartz and a sky blue topaz. Just liked Jareth's eyes. Sarah could see a blue ribbon. It lead from the ring to Jareth punching a wall, as well as Keir's sobbing one. Sarah gasped at the sight. "I hate seeing them like this."

"I do too." Lizzy smiled sadly placing the ring in her hand.

"Go to him my dear." Lizzy then walked over to Keir. Sarah to Jareth. She tried to reach for him but her hand passed right through him until it fell to his heart. The red ribbon of Fate pulled at her own chest.

"I am sorry to pull you into this Sarah. It never should have been like this. All I wanted was your love." He said falling against the wall. Sarah teared up. "I wanted to worship you. Make you the princess you should have been." She let a rasp leave her lungs. "I wish I could send you home. I don't want you to be my champion. I don't want you to end up like my mother."

"Jareth." She had the distinct feeling that she was in her bed. "Shit. I wanted to talk to her more." She whispered. Then she remembered Jareth's bloody hands. "Jareth!" She sat up, getting dizzy as she tried to get to the door. Arms around kept her from falling. Alistair looked down at her. "I need to get to him before he hurts himself more." He let her go. A disheveled goblin king met her there gasping for air. "Jareth." Alistair felt the pain in her voice. They collapsed together.

"I heard you scream my love." She took his hands. Still dripping.

"Please don't do this anymore. It hurts us." She cried. Power surrounded her hands as the scraps and blood vanished. Jareth could feel the bones mending too. "The wall doesn't deserve it either." His heart broke when she finally looked up at him, tears in her eyes and a smile on her face. "Tell me you don't let your mother see that often."

"My Mother?"

"Jareth, she watches over you. Probably always will." Sarah opened her palm to the ring that she was holding. "This was hers. I think that she wanted you to have it." Jareth took the ring. "How often do you get that frustrated? Do you always talk to me without me hearing you?" The kings face paled. "There is no way that I will stand back as you face this war. I love you, Jareth, you fool. I said that I would be your champion not because I am arrogant about beating you. I did it to keep one of two things that mean the most to me would be safe."

"Sarah-"

"No don't speak!" Her sadness gone she was an angry woman, he had never met. Sarah had been relieved that he was okay now but so frustrated that she would have to explain something that he should have known. "I have heard you say so often that you love me. That you moved the stars for me. You never asked me what I wanted." Jareth frowned down at the woman. Where was she going with this? "I knew what I wanted. I was so angry with you. So very angry."

"Why are you so angry with me?" Jareth asked quietly.

"You didn't even ask me what I wanted!" He blinked at the girl. He had never thought about that. Jareth had thought that it was clear.

"What did you want? After you said those words-" How dense was he? She asked herself.

"I expected you to fight back. Say something like "I will show you power". I wanted all your feeling to come out in a kiss." A kiss? She had wanted him to kiss her? "I wasn't a virgin and knew what I wanted but I didn't know how to get it from you." Jareth sighed. "At fifteen I wanted you. More than my heart could tell you. You didn't even ask. You didn't see it in my face that I was pushing you to lose your cool. Now you are hurting yourself, the ones around you and me." Her delicate hands hit him in the chest. "Had your mother not wanted to meet me I wouldn't have seen it. You would have kept it all in like you always have."

"I am not the only one that holds things in, Sarah." He said softly into her hair.

"Yeah but I don't harm myself."

"Is that what you are angry with me about?" She released a frustrated groan. He smiled. "I am sorry my love. I will never do it again."

"I didn't want to be a princess for you, Jareth. Sure I wanted your love but I didn't want to be worshiped. I wanted us to be shattered. I wanted us to feel alive."

"You were a child."

"Less of one than you think. You thought me innocent. I wasn't all that innocent. Those pants left nothing to the imagination save what I wanted to do to get them off you. I envisioned that first night hot, rough and satisfying. No, the oh so great Goblin king only thought that I was rejecting him. I saw your perfect imperfection. I saw the loneliness even then. Had you just asked me I wouldn't have to feel like shit right now."

Alistair watched them fall softly to the floor. Sarah crying so hard it broke his heart again. How could Jareth let his happen to her. "She is blaming herself! What the hell did she see you doing Jareth?" He went to take the girl from his king only to be pushed away with a look.

"I saw her laying there and went to my room. My self hatred came to the surface." She cried even harder into his chest. "The wall wouldn't break no matter how much I punched it. This was not what wanted. I didn't want her to be a champion. I wanted to spoil her. It seems that she and my mother saw that."

"You think?" Alistair never disliked his king as he did watching his best friend crying. She was so soft. She was so easily breakable when it was about Jareth. How could he not see it?

She pushed from him but his arms held her there. "I am sorry that I am not the woman that you wanted. I am sorry that you hurt yourself because of me."

"Never feel sorry for being who you are. I still love you. I now know that you love me more than I could have ever asked for. I rank right up there with Toby." He teased. She just glared at him. "I promise that I will come to you if I have any issues. If you promise me to tell me what you want."

"All I have wanted was you, Jareth." That was when Alistair left them. Kissing on the floor of her bedroom.

_**AN Hey guys so sorry that it was later than I wanted. I had a Flat Stanley project for my niece that I had to do. For that I tried to make it longer. Let me know what you think. Sorry if it is not perfect. Lexie.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Balance**_

_**Thanks for all the likes and reviews. Lexie**_

**Chapter Five**

"Never feel sorry for being who you are. I still love you. I, now, know that you love me more than I could have ever asked for. I rank right up there with Toby." He teased. She just glared at him. "I promise that I will come to you if I have any issues. If you promise me to tell me what you want."

"All I have wanted was you, Jareth." That was when Alistair left them. Kissing on the floor of her bedroom.

Sarah woke before dawn. Jareth lay happily sleeping next to her. Her left hand came to his face only to see his mother's ring on her finger. She didn't remember when he had placed it on her finger. It felt so right there though. Everything in her wanted to stay there basking in the feeling of his love. Yet the fates had other plans.

Something was calling to her. It wasn't all consuming like the Labyrinth calling her. It wasn't coming from her heart like when Jareth called out to her. Without waking her sleeping lover Sarah left the bed and ready to begin her journey. Sarah kissed Jareth's head before leaving her room. She was going to miss the castle. Even if it was only for two weeks.

"Were you going to leave without me as well?" Alistair said at the bottom of the stairs on her way to the tower. Sarah had no idea that she was heading up. She was just following the summons.

"I don't know." He came to stand next to her. "What is up here?"

"That is the aerie." Alistair didn't question. He was learning not to when it came to the powers of the Queen of the Land.

"Jareth's owls are up there." He smiled when she realized where she was going.

"Yes the soul cannibals." She ran the rest of the way up. This was the Sarah he knew. Not the one that he had seen earlier this evening. Alistair decided that he loved the one with a brain full of magic versus the one that cried over the stupid goblin king.

At the top of the stairs Sarah knocked at the door. No need to be impolite. When it opened slowly she stepped into a tall round room filled with owls of every kind. Four stood out. A great horned owl half her size stared at her from his perch. A hawk owl its left and a snowy on the other side. Not to far from them was a shinny white barn owl. She smiled to herself. Of course he would be here for this.

_"I am Nighthawk. Who are you to request my audience?"_ The owl's voice was old and wise. Sarah knelt.

"My name is Sarah Williams. I am the mortal the Labyrinth has named Queen of the Land. I have come to meet the allies of my king and ask a humble request." Sarah watched the massive owl look to the barn owl. "There is an army on the border waiting to depose my king for something that happened many years ago."

_"That was not that long ago at all, in the Fae realms, mortal."_ Shit Sarah thought. _"We know of this army. As the King of Beings has asked me to hear you out before making my decision I will make it now."_ Jareth's title was King of Beings? Sarah made a mental note to call him that. The Jareth owl looked at her. She held her smile flat. _"I felt this day coming since Keir heard the news of Elizabeth's death. That was when I pledged myself and my kind to the King of Beings. We will help you, Sarah Williams."_

"Thank you, Nighthawk." Sarah stood up. "I am going to leave the palace now to find the others. Please look after the king as you have always done." Sarah turned to the barn owl. "Is there anything that you would like to add, my love?"

Alistair was sure that the owl smirked before it shifted into the feather clad king. "How did you know that it was me? There are so many owls here."

"You sparkle even in owl form." Nighthawk made a sound that sounded like a laugh. "Beside I knew you were not going to let me leave without saying good luck."

"Good luck? How about you better not die on me? That was if I couldn't convince you to stay. You are safe here. Keir will be looking for you." Jareth's eyes begged. Just like they had in she destroyed Escher room.

"You know that I can't do that." Sarah looked to his chest to keep her heart from breaking. "We need-I need to power to keep you safe. I need to be everything that you are not to bring balance like the Labyrinth wants." He brought her chin up. "As for Keir, even if I was here there would be no way for you to stop him from hurting me." That hurt Jareth. "If I get the other elements I can fight him."

"If you think that is wise?"

"Jareth-" Alistair started but the crystal tear stopped him.

"Promise you will keep my queen safe from everything including herself. She is kinda self sacrificing when she doesn't need to be. Alistair, you are one of my oldest friends and I am trusting you with the only thing in all the realms I love." Jareth brought the ringed hand to his lips. Sarah gave him a sympathetic smile.

"I swear to you, my king, that nothing will harm my queen." They both frowned at their friend for talking so formally. "Sarah is also dear to me, Jareth. That is the only reason that she is not going alone like she wanted."

"Shut up." Sarah playfully glared. The mage smiled back. "I have to go, my love. I will be back in a couple weeks."

"Two weeks?" She can't fly like you. Jareth's inner voice yelled at him. "Take a crystal with you. That way I can watch you." Her smile turned to a frown. He was holding the sphere out to her. "What is it love?"

"Watch me?" He nodded before he realized what she realized. "That is how you were spying on me. That is how I felt you watching me. There is a crystal in my apartment."

_"You told me that she was brilliant. I guess you underestimated her." _Nighthawk laughed again. Sarah bowed to the owls.

"We will talk about that later. For now I have to go." Alistair saw her grin widely despite her voice was angry. This woman loved to push Jareth's buttons. Maybe this is how she made him feel alive. Alistair thought following her out. Without a word she put up a hand with three fingers counting down. Three. Two. One.

"Sarah you better come back." She turned back smiling. Alistair laughed. Jareth stood frowning at the shared joke.

"You can bet your sparkly ass on it, Jareth." Continuing down she just waved at him.

"Wench." They were both laughing as the doors to the castle closed. "Loveable wench." He said to the orb in his hands. Hearing her laugh back he went back to his room. Now to start writing letters and sending them out.

Standing at the stable Alistair saw her heart flutter. She was question what she was doing. "This is to help more than him. It is bigger than you two, Sarah."

"I know. That is why I think that he should come with us."

"What about the army that he needs to gather?" She sighed. "I know that you will miss him but what does the Labyrinth want? It can tell you when you displease it now."

"There is nothing." She said. "I guess that means I am doing what it wants, huh?"

"Lets get out of here." Alistair mounted his horse. "Where do you want to start first?"

"The dragons are the closet?" He nodded. "Then we go there."

AN: Sorry for the really short chapter but I want to make it one chapter per element.


End file.
